ELR Citation: 51 ELR 20032
No(s). 20-15145 (9th Cir. Feb 24, 2021)

The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court order staying state law claims in a lawsuit concerning the California Water Resources Board's amendments to its water quality control plan for the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta system. The U.S. government brought the suit, arguing the Board violated various provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when it amended the water quality control plan and discriminated against the government under the intergovernmental immunity doctrine. The Board asked the court to abstain from hearing the claims or to stay the suit. The district court denied abstention under a number of doctrines and determined a stay of the intergovernmental immunity claim was not warranted, but stayed the CEQA claims until further notice. The appellate court held a partial stay in the suit was permissible only in very limited circumstances, namely when there was strong evidence of forum shopping, but that because there was little evidence of that in this instance, the district court abused its discretion in granting the stay. It therefore reversed the stay and remanded to allow the government's claims to proceed.